wash your hands

Here's one study that might be worth funding with Gov't money; "is confession 'really' good for the soul?"

This study would compare both Gov't spending with Market "speculation" (legalized gambling, that is) and show "us" just who is wasting more of our money? I suspect the "market" boys are doing a great job "destroying capital"; far better than the Gov't. After all, they can actually "crash" markets overnight! lol

If you're going to 'use' tax money. "Use it well!" lol

cnh

I'm afraid it works both ways, John. Why do you think that Chinese are so 'frugal', monitor their currency reserves so closely and have almost no debt? Because they are NOT a centralized entity, strong Gov't?

And why do American companies like to invest in China? Because it has a weak Gov't that cannot "control" its population?

No, American companies "love" that! Can't get enough of it. See a number of recent books that explain why authoritarian Gov'ts like China are "great for investment"! lol

Is this an endorsement of the Chinese Gov't, heck no. All I'm saying is that foreign Capitalists "love" that Gov't and the enforced "stability" it provides!

OK, no more politics...Conservatives (Senate, House, etc.) get to give future President Xi Jinping the "cold shoulder" at "our" peril, of course!

cnh

On the subject of China. I went to buy new socks tonight. Every package said made in China.

I know we gave our textile market to them (not that many years ago either...20 or less) for some reason. Why can't we get it back here and let them buy clothes from US. Can you imagine socks on their shelves and walls saying "made in the USA again"

Our shelves also..LOL.

Nice dream but why not.......... Politicians???, that's why.

They could tax incoming crap so high as to reduce our deficit some and reduce taxs till the corporations come home. I think I heard ONCE that they did think of that and China CRIED like a small baby would till it got what it wanted. No new tarriff taxes on their incoming mountains of goods. I've heard prices would go up. Well. we all know about americas' frivolous wastefull citizens. They would adjust. Just like we adjust to our every thousand other increases we're presented with by our own governments trying to get funds for un-needed BS projects.

Sorry for another rant.

Glowrdr wrote: »

OK. Am I the only one that finds it ironic that "Potee" started a thread about washing your hands? Just curious.

However, the thread just got a lot more interesting! Great posts/great points cnh!

potee wrote: »

When I was a little boy every time I came in for lunch my mom said you've been playing in the dirt go wash your hands. Here it is just 70 years later the goverment has figured it out dirt is dirty. They only had to ask 5200 moms befor they understood dirt is dirty.

Oh we paid for that outstanding study. No wonder we're broke.

What study? Link please.

Chicoms? Joe McCarthy would be proud of ya'all. lol

Read some "history" boys! Open mind, open discourse. There is always more than "one" perspective; isn't that what a free society is all about? For example, I agree with a number of things tonyb writes above. Surprised? I also liked a number of things Jon Huntsman had to say though I have never been a political conservative. I respect a man who has experience and "knows" what he is talking about.

Heck, even people who listen to the "same" set of speakers don't hear the same thing! lol

But if finding "some" fault with an economic system automatically makes you "suspect" then one has to wonder? Does that mean in the U.S. we can't criticize the economic system and in China we can't criticize the Party? Hmmmm...?

cnh

With all due respect, don't you think it's a little absurd to be lecturing a Professor of Chinese studies, whose own wife spent two years in the countryside laboring with the peasants (because she was part of the 17 million youth sent to the countryside by Mao) and who has spent 3.5 years living in China about its history and politics?

I am "not" defending the party. Far from it! All I'm asking a "few" of you to do is look at the "glorious" history you so often site and see whether it was so glorious for "everyone" who sought freedom. Case in point. A few nights ago PBS aired a film "Slavery by Another Name". A less than flattering portrait of what happened to slaves in the south after emancipation. Or look at the "bloody" history of unions in the U.S. How many were killed and jailed because the "freely" sought to organize labor? Or the disproportionate number of African-American males in our jails today (that's merely "justice" right...no other "factors" are involved because "everyone" is on the same flat "equal" playing field (are you also a Professor of African American history?). [yeah, yeah I hear it, PBS is a leftist leaning, Gov't funded, commie loving institution! lol]

You all have a right to believe as you wish. But just "check" out the other side, once in a while. Don't just spout off about freedom all the time! My parents were immigrants, they came to the U.S. for the reasons you site and to escape the German menace that was rearing its head. My father was a member of the USWA, my mother the ILGWU. Oh my god! Unions, how awful.

Tell that to the millions of families that moved to the suburbs, sent their kids to college and supplied the next generation with the Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Professors, Scientists, and even some famous Entrepreneurs that American now depends on! And who also helped "build" much of this "great" country and raise it to #1 status?

How about the G.I. Bill, that provided education for much of the generation that taught me. Some of the most brilliant intellectuals to ever grace the American University who also served time defending their country in the Big War.

There are a lot of things about our Gov't that were great, that helped make this country and are just as responsible for our position in the world as its economic system. It's a matter of record, it's history, it's there. And you can't erase it with a few ideological flourishes.

Regarding China. There is almost NO China scholar alive who would tell you that Communism (not the radical Maoist excesses) but the early land redistributions and Nationalization of Industries and clean up of graft and corruption in the cities was one of the only ways that a fragmented and impoverished China could ever have cohered as a Nation state in the 20th century. And that this centralization made it possible for it to catapult to its present position as an economic powerhouse. All throughout its early history there was a tug and push back between "radical" forces (Mao) and what later became the force of "moderation" (Deng and his mentors). That dialectic actually saved China and finally set it on its present path with "political" reforms to occur given time.

As Americans we should stop flag-waving and get out there and help rebuild this country. If you have time, volunteer! If you have money start a business or donate to a charity, if you have knowledge help educate. Because we are in this "together" regardless of the fact that we make our money as "individuals wage earners" and are taxed as individuals. Unfortunately for all that individuality, we sink or swim "together". I think that they used to call that compassionate conservatism before this election?

cnh